1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable toy that can be held by hand and played by the user, a portable information terminal for use as an auxiliary storage unit for an information-handling apparatus, an entertainment system equipped with-such a portable information terminal, and a recording medium which stores a program to be downloaded into the portable information terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information-handling apparatus such as entertainment apparatus including video game machines have a master unit and a slave unit such as a memory card device to be inserted into the master unit. The slave unit comprises an interface for connection to the main assembly of the information-handling apparatus, i.e., the master unit, and a nonvolatile memory for storing data.
FIG. 56 of the accompanying drawings shows an arrangement of major components of a conventional memory card device. The conventional memory card device, generally denoted by 1000, comprises a control means 1002 for controlling operation of the memory card device, a connector 1004 for connection to terminals disposed in a slot of the information-handling apparatus or the like, and a nonvolatile memory 1006 for storing data. The connector 1004 and the nonvolatile memory 1006 are connected to the control means 1002.
The control means 1002 comprises a microcomputer, for example. The nonvolatile memory 1006 comprises a flash memory or an EEPROM, for example. The interface for connection to the main assembly of the information-handling device may comprise a microcomputer as a control means for interpreting protocols.
FIG. 57 of the accompanying drawings shows control items carried out by the control means 1002 of the conventional memory card device 1000.
The conventional memory card device 1000 has had only an apparatus connection interface for connection to the main assembly of the information-handling apparatus and a memory interface for entering data into and retrieving data from the nonvolatile memory.
Conventional entertainment apparatus which are also capable of playing home TV games have a function to store programs and data in an auxiliary memory. The above memory card device can also be used as an auxiliary memory for entertainment apparatus.
FIG. 58 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional entertainment apparatus 1010 which employs a memory card as an auxiliary memory. The conventional entertainment apparatus 1010 has a rectangular casing 1012 which houses a disk loading unit 1014 substantially centrally therein for loading an optical disk as a recording medium with an application program recorded therein. The casing 1012 supports a reset switch 1016 for resetting a program which is being presently executed, a power supply switch 1018, a disk control switch 1020 for controlling the loading of the optical disk, and two slots 1022A, 1022B.
The memory card 1000 for use as an auxiliary memory is inserted into one of the slots 1022A, 1022B, and result data of the program executed by the entertainment apparatus 1010 are transmitted from a control means (CPU) 1024 and written in the nonvolatile memory 1006. A plurality of manual controllers (not shown) may be connected respectively to the slots 1022A, 1022B to allow a plurality of users or game players to share the entertainment system to play a competition game, for example.
It has been attempted to provide a slave unit that can be connected to a memory card slot in an entertainment apparatus as a master unit, with a function to execute a program such as a game program. Such a slave unit can also be used as a portable information terminal. If the slave unit can communicate easily with other devices, then the slave unit will find a wider range of applications, which will lead to the creation of new demands.
Furthermore, if a portable information terminal is designed for use as a toy with a head and a body, then the portable information terminal will gain greater popularity in the market.
Moreover, a portable information terminal with a communication capability for receiving information from an external source and an output capability for outputting received information as an audio message will find wide use among users.
In addition, a portable information terminal will also be used widely if it has an illegal copying prevention function to prevent programs and data from being copied illegally through the portable information terminal.